Date of Award
6-15-2007
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts (BA)
Department
Philosophy
First Advisor
Dr. Robert Sattelmeyer - Chair
Second Advisor
Dr. Melissa Merritt
Third Advisor
Dr. Reiner Smolinski
Abstract
Scholarship on Emerson to date has not considered Spinoza’s influence upon his thought. Indeed, from his lifetime until the twentieth century, Emerson’s friends and disciples engaged in a concerted cover-up because of Spinoza’s hated name. However, Emerson mentioned his respect and admiration of Spinoza in his journals, letters, lectures, and essays, and Emerson’s thought clearly shows an importation of ideas central to Spinoza’s system of metaphysics, ethics, and biblical hermeneutics. In this essay, I undertake a biographical and philosophical study in order to show the extent of Spinoza’s influence on Emerson and how this changes the traditional understanding of Emerson’s thought.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.57709/1061169
Recommended Citation
Adler, Adam, "Emerson's Hidden Influence: What Can Spinoza Tell the Boy?." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2007.
doi: https://doi.org/10.57709/1061169